Ask HN: Writing cover letters for tech jobs

[scabarott]

I really hate writing cover letters as I never know what to write or if anyone is even going to read them. I see a lot of sites offering advice on how to write generic cover letters, but most all of them don’t seem appropriate (at least to me) for tech jobs - more for formal sales, business jobs. I'm interested to know what HN’ers with experience on either or both sides have to say by way of advice - What do you usually write/expect, is it even really a requirement?. Do you attach a separate document or just write an informal email. What tone do you take - formal, familiar. Do you summarize your skills experience or just include a link to Github etc.

[huntero]

Cover letters might get lost in the HR departments of larger companies, but they're incredibly useful to me when sorting through applications at a small company.

Especially for entry level positions, a well-written cover letter is a much stronger positive signal than a bullet point style resume. Far too often the resume is a regurgitation of university class projects and career center templates.

Think of it like a pre-interview, but you get to choose the questions. Since most entry-level resumes look the same, this is your chance to explain why you stand out. (a passion for the industry, strong open-source contributions, etc)

If the position isn't entry level, my advice is the same. Use the opportunity to stand out and score the interview ( which is where the actual decisions will get made). At a small company, someone will read it.

[_raaq]

I find it funny that we have completely reversed methodologies on hiring. If someone gave me a resume with bullet point skills as the first thing on the resume, I would be impressed. Though you can't have too much or too little of any of these elements.

That is interesting. We are seeking the best way to do something, but we are forgetting that people, the interviewers are all different, looking for arbitrarily (but defendable) different things..

Far as new grads. When I got my first job, I did list my class projects, but I focused more on the internships I had had (3 by that point), as well as my freelancing, and the work with open source 3d printers. If a new grad only has projects that would be a red flag.

[tempestn]

These are my feelings exactly. I run a small, all-remote web company with six developers. When I'm hiring, I'm looking at least 80% at cover letter, 20% at resume. And even that 20 is mostly just to make sure they have the basic competence to put together a resume, and to check experience and education to get an idea of salary range. Most of the decision to interview is based on cover letter and the answer to our fizzbuzz-style application question. (And then all of the decision on whether to hire is based on a series of realistic coding assignments, designed to mimic the kind of work that would be done on the job, each graded against a defined rubric.)

Regarding cover letter advice, the main thing I would suggest is to try and demonstrate that you're aware of what the company does, and specifically interested in that position. Cover letters where you've just copy/pasted the name of the company and the position, then inserted a few relevant points, are painfully easy to spot. Far more effective is a letter that is really focused around your fit for that specific position. And, at least for me, it's a plus if you also clearly acknowledge anything that would be considered a weakness (lack of specific experience for instance,) and then make the case for why you would be a good choice regardless. Once again, this demonstrates you've thought about the company's specific needs and how you will address them.

Finally, be aware of who you're writing to. If possible, try to get a sense of the company culture before writing the letter, and tailor your style to fit. If you know the company you're applying to is small and/or relatively informal (and possibly even regardless), you can stand out from all the generic letters by allowing a bit of personality to come through.

[matt_the_bass]

I agree. I want the resume to be bullet lists but the cover letter to explain why they are a match.

I also see it as a filter on effort. If the applicant doesn’t care enough to make sure I know why they are a good fit, do they really care about the job?

In my experience, only checking off checkboxes rarely leads to the correct match.

[jghn]

I review a lot of resumes and I see very few cover letters. Early on when I'd get one it'd get me excited and I'd make sure to read it. Then I realized that 99% of the few cover letters I received were so paint by numbers that it just wasn't worth my time. So now I don't read them. I understand that there's some tiny fraction of applications with a genuine, heartfelt, quality cover letter that I'm missing, but that's such a small number I'm ok with it.

[fecak]

Resume writer here that also writes cover letters for clients, converted to writing after 20 years in tech recruiting. Almost any time that a client asks for a cover letter, my response is "Here it is, and I hope you never have to use it".

If you're using a cover letter to apply for a job, it means you have no human inside the company that is advocating on your behalf. Your friend wouldn't ask you for a cover letter (in most cases) if he/she was going to refer you internally. So when you are required to use a cover letter, it usually means you're applying to a job 100% 'cold' as an outsider.

Unfortunately that may be the case sometimes. If a cover letter is required, there are a few key elements

1 - prove to the reader that you actually paid a bit of attention to the job requirement. I spent 20 years in recruiting, and generic cover letters that clearly weren't written for me ("Dear Esteemed Employer") never got my attention. I want to know what interested you in this opportunity, or briefly what you know about the company (could be lots of things).

2 - Talk a bit about what you're interested in from a work perspective. What kind of work do you want to be doing (and hopefully that is the work we're offering).

3 - Maybe check off a few boxes from the job spec. If they require a degree and n years with Python, a few sentences to check off those boxes will make it easy for the reader (often a recruiter or admin with little experience and limited knowledge of the domain) to say yes to you as a candidate.

Semi-formal tone. You can link to GitHub, but usually I link GitHub and LinkedIn on a resume.

[tyingq]

>Almost any time that a client asks for a cover letter, my response is "Here it is, and I hope you never have to use it".

That seems kind of absolute. If I were applying to, say, an auto manufacturer, the cover letter might be the obvious place to state why I'm interested in working there. And why I'm a good choice. Like, "I've always been a car nut. I even wrote an open source library to access CAN bus data here: http://whatever "

Basically to say that a personalized, per-company, cover letter might have significant value. A generic one, perhaps not.

[thomastjeffery]

> applying to a job 100% 'cold' as an outsider.

I really wish that weren't such a problem.

It's difficult for many of us to get a foot in the door, and that is exasperated by the one-size-fits-all solutions that everyone seems to point to, that really aren't the best fit for many of us.

[ravenstine]

I almost never need to write my own cover letter. The closest I get to a cover letter is if I have an opportunity to send an email to a company I like, and I know the email will go to someone not in HR. If I have no choice but to interact with HR, either I'll see it as a red flag and won't bother applying or I'll apply with no cover letter. Yes, this does mean I won't get interviews at most companies.

Writing cover letters that go to HR is like writing a custom message for every attractive person on a dating site. Everyone says that's what they want, but your extra effort will go unappreciated 95% of the time while the goofball who just sent "sup?" actually got some dates. When it comes to searching for a job, best to not waste cumulative hours of your life writing material that won't be appreciated.

[expertentipp]

> When it comes to searching for a job, best to not waste cumulative hours of your life writing material that won't be appreciated.

Cover letters aside, this includes take home assignments in particular.

[user5994461]

Don't send a blank cover letter if there is one requested. Just write a single line of text to say that you are a X with N years of experience and you can help them.

Too many companies will reject applications with a blank cover letter.

[chis]

I agree. If your options are to apply to 20 jobs with blank cover letters, or apply to 4 jobs with custom letters, it’s obvious which one has a better chance of working out.

[starwind0]

Personally I have never really seen the point in writing one. My resume has all my abilities and even a bit about me. The recruiter is going to scan the resume and let the computer decide if I get the interview. That said the smarter thing you can do is copy the job posting, attach it to the end of your resume. I usually do it in micro print and white, as it's just for the machines.

Speaking as someone that has interviewed a lot of senior level engineers in the last 2 years. The fastest way to get a black mark is to hand me an 6 page resume. Frankly as a lead, with 10 resumes on my desk.. most of whom don't have the right skill set. The last thing you want to do is make me hunt to see if you can do the job. Cover letters in the rare case I got them, I didn't read at all. If your resume interests me I'll look at your linkedin.

That said, I am a senior / lead android dev. So I don't exactly hurt on the job front.. I have noticed the smaller the company the more they want you to know about them. Especially start ups (the more obscure and small the higher the expectation)

[elwell]

> That said the smarter thing you can do is copy the job posting, attach it to the end of your resume. I usually do it in micro print and white, as it's just for the machines.

That's an interesting hack. And I suppose if I discovered an applicant was trying to game the system in this way, my distaste would be outweighed by my admiration.

[bhollan]

This sounds like a brilliant idea, but if any recruiter ever found the text, it might be a red flag for the employer. Have you ever had it come up in an interview process?

[zhte415]

Can you not manage time sufficiently to spend 2 minutes reading a 6 page resume and hopefully spending a good 15+ minutes thinking about what u just read?

[qznc]

I repeat parts of their job description and explain why I fulfill it.

Example: Job ad says "we look for a proactive and self-reliant person" then my cover letter says "to successfully finish my PhD, being proactive and self-reliant was important". This technique works even better for the technical parts.

I'm not sure if it was worth the effort. In the german job market, employers are quite desperate these days. A friend sent out simple template letters and got interviews just as easily.

I always sent a PDF. If sent by email, I duplicated the cover letter in the email. My experience is that many had a print out at the interview and PDF works best to ensure a good print.

[Balgair]

I second this approach.

Many job ads will have a bulleted list of what they are looking for and responsibilities. Just copy-paste that list and then re-write the bullet points in a way that shows how you have that skill. EXP:

- Candidate must have 5 years experience with FooBar

- Candidate must have good knowledge of ZooCar

Turns into:

- Via my 5 years at class/volunteering/job at McEnroeCorp I used FooBar and made FooBarApp with it.

- I have used ZooCar for class/job/side-project and got-a-B/made-$$$-for-company/went-to-FGH-conference

Just go down the list and put in whatever you can.

ProTip for 'shyer' people: Don't worry if you only have 3 years and they need 5, apply anyway. Also, if you only have ~40% of the listed requirements, apply anyway. Hell, if you think the logo is kinda cool and you have an inkling that you can code and fog a mirro, apply anyway.

[rdiddly]

I used to paste the job posting into a text editor, splitting it up into bullet-points if needed. Then -- I know you think I'm gonna say I'd paste stuff from there into the cover letter, but no -- I'd keep the window up while working on the cover letter in another window. And I'd make sure to address all those bullet-points if possible, or as many as I could. Imagining myself reading it, if I found myself wanting to shout "BULLSHIT!" at something, I'd take that part out or rework it.

If my letter didn't succeed in addressing at least 3/4 of the bullet-points in the text file, I would scrap the application.

[fpisfun]

Sounds a good idea for an app lol, you fill out a little section for each skill, feed it job listings and it spits back out your sentences that match the buzzwords of the day that HR drones are looking for. It could even sort to present the sentences in order matching their appearance in the job ad and maybe intermix some non buzzword specific sentences to make it seem more real.

[CamelCaseName]

Great point on attaching an emailed cover letter as a PDF. Never thought about that, thanks!

[pruthvishetty]

Always write a cover letter from scratch. It's better to invest time in five most relevant positions and apply with a complementing cover letter (and resume), than to apply for fifty positions without any background research (AKA generic cover letter/resume.)

If you are applying online to a big tech company, it almost always goes into an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). The ATS scans your resume and cover letter for keywords, and matches it with the keywords in the job description or specific keywords as asked my the hiring manager. (You can get through ATS just by copy-pasting the job description in your cover letter. Don't do it). Once you pass through the ATS filter, the recruiter don't seem to care much about the content of your cover letter, but it makes a huge difference when it goes to the hiring manager.

Apart from convincing why you are a perfect fit for the role, share interesting stuff about you like a link to your website (highly recommend this for new grads in tech roles), github profile, previous internship experiences and what excites you about this role.

PS - The most effective way to get a call is to network.(and avoid the whole ATS blackhole).

[hpcjoe]

+10 on the networking. Use LinkedIn, leverage any/all connections. Reach out to people, let them know you are looking.

+1 on the ATS. They are a waste of your time, generally. If you see an interesting position, try to find an "in" to the company via your network, 1st or 2nd order. See if you can reach the hiring manager directly. HR/ATS get in the way of that. They are supposed to be a service, but as often as not, they are a bottleneck of dubious value. Think of this as engineering your way around the bottlenecks.

+1 on writing a personalized cover letter for each application (e.g. resume submission). I spent quite a bit of time reading/listening to what people thought were good cover letters. What it comes down to is, be real, be yourself. Explain what excites you and how this position does this.

After I did all of this, I found myself a) applying to fewer positions (this was early this year), and b) getting a far higher response rate (60+%). This culminated in multiple interesting offers.

YMMV, but good cover letters help you stand out. Show you are a human being that they want on their team.

[scabarott]

Didn't even think of the ATS angle. Yikes, so if a cover letter doesn't have enough related keywords it might not even make it past machine filters? That makes me even more anxious - most postings, actually virtually every posting I see, the overlap btw required skills posted and my skills is rarely more than 50% or 60%.

[walshemj]

Sucks for dyslexics even high performing dyslexics like myself find writing cover letters hard and I would only do that for some very specific and life changing jobs - some run of the mill startup not so much.

[kevin_thibedeau]

Don't write one. I quit using them after in interview where the HR didn't bother to provide it to the interviewer who complained about how sparse my resume was. It was on purpose because the letter had much more background content. I've also never received a cover letter for candidates I've interviewed.

You have zero control over the distribution of two separate documents. ATS systems are geared toward something they can run keyword matches on and the extra fluff of a cover letter gets cast aside if they are even supported at all. Just work the meat of the cover letter into your resume and let that stand on its own.

Of course, outside of tech, where soft skills may need to be displayed a cover letter has more merit.

[Uhhrrr]

Generally I think the importance of a cover letter correlates inversely with log(company headcount). At a couple of places, I have had people remark positively regarding my cover letter. In those cases I was particularly able to show good technical fit and experience with the product space. But the biggest company where that has happened had 200 employees.

[jdlyga]

Imagine you were a character in a video game. Why would I want to pick you? What are your strengths, special moves, etc and how can that help with my playstyle? That's all I want to know as someone interviewing people. You wouldn't focus on Ryu as graduating from Kyoto Martial Arts academy, placing first in the uppercut tournament. Tell me what Ryu is good at. Tell me that you have a good hadoken that's better than other people's projectiles, and I can use you in sitautions where projectiles are useful.

[ChuckMcM]

As a hiring manager I appreciate a cover letter that suggests you have read the job description, a bit about the company, and thought a bit about what skills you bring to the table. So for managers like me, getting one gives the candidate a slight edge over those who don't write cover letters.

That said, just like boiler plate recruiter emails that try to interest me in a job that I'm clearly not going to be interested in based on where I am in my career, a cover letter that is clearly just boiler plate can be a slight negative.

Bottom line, bad cover letter (-1), no cover letter (0), good cover letter (+1) in terms of impact. Regret minimization says you are always safe not sending one, but min/maxers would have you tailor it to the job to give you that extra edge :-).

[eli]

I can't speak to every hiring manager, but I definitely read cover letters and value non-generic ones. (And in fact my job ad instructs you to include one. So I still look at resumes that come in without one, but it doesn't speak well to your attention to detail.)

The tone doesn't matter that much, but I would avoid the extremes of very informal or very formal. It should be the first thing that I read, so if you're applying by email it should be the body of the email.

A cover letter is an opportunity for you to tell me why you're interested in this job/company specifically and to highlight things that might not be readily apparent by reading your resume. Some of the best cover letters call out specific achievements that are relevant to the job you're applying for, or preemptively address concerns that someone reading only your resume might have. Even just including enough information to show that you did some research on the job/company before applying already puts you above most cover letters. A generic cover letter makes me wonder if you're just applying to every job ad.

[sethherr]

I second this. A cover letter, for me, is the opportunity to write a short thing about why you’re interested in the specific position. You aren’t expected to edit your resume for each job posting, but I expect to receive a cover letter that explains why you’re interested in the job you’re applying for. People who don’t include a cover letter (or an email, or some writing of any type) about why they want the job get devalued significantly when I’m evaluating applications.

Cover letters have helped me get jobs in the past, and have led me to get interviews (and to interview people).

It doesn’t have to be long, in fact, it really shouldn’t be. But if you’re up for writing a well phrased comment on HN, you should be up for writing a well phrased explanation of why you’re a good fit for the role.

[gjjrfcbugxbhf]

Oth. If I don't include a cover letter and you want to find out more about me you have to interview me...

[adrianratnapala]

Write whatever fits in with the company's hiring process. If that includes a cover letter, write a SHORT one. A traditional (formal) one might be something like:

> Dear Sir/Madam,

> My name is scabarott and I am a Something Engineer with N years of experience. As shown in my CV I my strenghs are [something impressive, don't be boring]. I think this will make me a good fit with your team and am looking forward to your reply.

> Yours Faithfully, > scabarott

Once I saw a tech company trying to be hip by saying don't send a cover letter, but then later asking for a short description of what makes you great. I thought it was silly, because that description just was the cover letter. But it was also wise because it set expectations well, and prevented people bloating out their letters.

P.S: The informal e-mail you my attach a CV to and the dead-tree cover letter are really the same thing, just tweaked sighlty for different technologies and traditions.

[roberttt]

I would write one and keep it short. Nobody wants to read a huge block of text. For startups, I've always kept it informal and sent it as an email.

  Hi Team,

  I'm a software engineer in [LOCATION] looking for new opportunities. I have experience with your stack and would love to hear more about the company and openings.

  You can see more from me here:
  [WEBSITE/GITHUB LINK]

  Please have a glance at my resume and see if my skills and experience could be useful.

  Thanks,
  [FIRST LAST NAME]

[dewey]

That’s also how I always did it and it works well for startup jobs. A lot of people are too formal or list too many things that the person on the other end doesn’t care about.

It’s also important to reference something from the company website / job offer in my opinion. I recently had to wade through a bunch of applications we got through Indeed and 100% of them had irrelevant generic cover letters / intro text that could apply to a startup or an enterprise at the same time. Spending your time on that instead of formatting your CV goes a long way.

[BeetleB]

Last time I applied to jobs, and got calls from recruiters, I asked what stood out. It was always the resume. I asked if the cover letter helped. Response was usually "You submitted a cover letter? Let me check. Oh hey, I see you submitted one."

My advice is the opposite of another comment: Write one only if you have a "direct pass" that avoids the HR/recruiter filter. Recruiters don't seem to look at them, and HR folks usually don't know enough about the job to value them.

[SmellTheGlove]

This is a good comment, but see my other post in this thread - at least with me, the cover letter itself gives you a "direct pass" for one of my vacancies. That's not advertised in the posting or anything, but I'm betting I'm not entirely unique in doing that.

At the very least, a cover letter can't hurt, so write one for a position you're really interested in!

[psyc]

I’m 18 years and 5 companies into my career. I was beginning to think I was alone here in never having written a cover letter.

[arwhatever]

I wish it were suitable to just submit a resume along with a message "Reply 'YES' for a cover letter," before I take the time to draft a nice, custom cover letter. Because too many times, applications including a nice, custom cover letter apparently do not even warrant an acknowledgement of receipt.

Honestly, it feels like a bit of a power imbalance.

[smoe]

My own cover letter consists of two sentences plus a little informal or formal fluff around it:

1. Who am I, short description of career so far.

2. Why I think hiring me would be good for your company. This is essentially a sales pitch, based on prior research on the company I'm applying for.

It is also what I like to see when being on the other side. It helps filtering out people that have an actual interest vs the ones that send mass mails, and also it already gives a first personal impression about a candidate.

[muzani]

I find them tedious but I really enjoy it. I know some employers also take the effort to read every word, especially when the recruiter is also the founder. But companies like Google and Facebook don't even let you send them. Maybe there's some correlation that the smaller the company, the more important the cover letter is?

The purpose of a cover letter is to just bring up things that aren't in your resume. If you have nothing to say, make it as brief as possible, maybe even one paragraph. Most employers will open the resume anyway.

Don't try to fake passion, that just makes you sound like a teenager desperate to get laid.

My format:

First paragraph, say what you are applying for if it's not in the title header.

Second paragraph, tell them how you meet the requirements. This is where you make it clear you have read the job ad and aren't resume blasting.

Third, explain other unique skillsets you bring. I like to emphasize my entrepreneurship and product development experience or that I can do full stack, if applicable.

Fourth, why you want to work for this company specifically.

Each paragraph would ideally be 1-2 sentences. The shorter the better. If not applicable, don't write it.

[auntienomen]

I hire data scientists, machine learning specialists, and the like, and I definitely value cover letters. Hiring is an intrinsically noisy process, and any additional information I can get helps me make better decisions.

I don't particularly care about tone, though. I'm looking to see if the applicants can string thoughts together, and if they understand what sort of position they're applying for.

[wtvanhest]

You should never 'apply for a job' in the traditional sense unless it is an hourly job at a mall or something like that.

For professional jobs, the pattern is as follows:

1. Locate professionals at the company you would like to work at.

2. Email them through a friend if that is possible, and if not, cold email them and say you are interested in learning more about XYZ company. Ask if they can grab a coffee or do a quick call.

3. During the coffee, ask them good questions to learn more and if you think you would still be interested, ask them if they have any advice on how to apply.

4. Do their advice, which typically means giving them just your resume and having them insert you in to the HR recruiting process.

Any other strategy is a gigantic waste of time.

[jeffnappi]

As a hiring manager, I always like to see at least a few short sentences. At a minimum you should share a point or two of why you are a good fit for the role. It doesn't need to be overly formal and could just be along the lines of:

"Hello, I noticed that you have a position open using [tech]. I am very familiar with [tech] and have been using it for [x] years. I saw on your website that your company is building a solution to [business model], [show your interest in business model]."

A longer letter is OK, but I don't really value a generic long-form letter any more than a short note showing you are paying attention and have real interest in a role at the company.

[schneidmaster]

My company wrote a blog post a while back with some tips for a good cover letter -- it's not specific to engineering but I think it's super helpful anyway: https://blog.aha.io/the-best-cover-letters-that-ceos-love-to...

Two key takeaways (in my opinion):

- If you care about the job, do a little bit of research about the company. What does the job posting focus on and how do you align with that? What's their engineering stack and when have you worked with those technologies? This isn't "required" (i.e. you can certainly find jobs by mass-sending the same generic intro) but investing a little time in finding out about the company goes a long way towards telling them that they should take the time to find out about you in return. I also think this helps with the question of tone -- you probably won't go wrong matching the tone of the job posting itself.

- Make it easy for them to see if they want to hire you. Include your resume and make it easy to read (a short, well-formatted PDF is great). Include a direct link to your GitHub/portfolio/etc. If you don't have any public work, just say so and give them a Cliff's notes instead -- "Most of my recent GitHub contributions are private, but for the past six months I've lead a team of four developers in developing a new widget using React, Redux, and ES6, which I see is a close match to your tech stack."